


Incorrigible

by Piggie50



Series: Arthur is Not an Artist, Merlin, Surprisingly, Is [3]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Bars and Pubs, Jealous Arthur, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-27
Updated: 2014-07-27
Packaged: 2018-02-10 17:20:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2033433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Piggie50/pseuds/Piggie50
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Camelot gang go down to the Manticore for a pint or two, and some things come to light.<br/>Or, Arthur is a jealous prat and Merlin hates his mates sometimes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Incorrigible

It was past midnight by the time they all wandered into the Manticore, the bar full of people, though their regular table was still as empty as ever.

Arthur and Merlin had gone to join the boy’s of the band Camelot, helping them rehearse with “helpful” comments on both their music and lyrics.

They had taken it all in good stride and afterwards, though it was much too late to be proper, they all decided to go to their favorite establishment for a drink.

They meandered to their regular table, a hollowed out corner that served as a rounded booth that they all shoved themselves into.

Merlin was glad to be sitting by his boyfriend, Arthur, who slung an around him as they huddled close to each other, much to the teasing disgust of their mates.

Elena, the waitress traipsed up as soon as she was free to, nearly tripping over people’s feet as she carried a huge tray with her.

She plopped a vat of chips onto the table, steam rising wispily from them and tantalizing the whole group.

Elena quickly took their drink orders, a sweet smile on her face as she scribbled down the information on a pad of stationary paper.

Then, with a quick grin at Arthur, she turned and walked away, trying not to bump into patron’s as she did so.

The other men at the table scoffed at Arthur as they dug into the chips, but Merlin pecked his boyfriend on the cheek before joining the others in their late night feast.

Elena attended the Institute with them, and was Arthur’s biology partner.

She was brilliant at the subject, but when it came to projects and lab work she was the worst. She seemed much too clumsy to do anything properly, and most of her partners passed her off to someone else after only one failed attempt at a project.

Arthur had so far been the only one to keep her as a partner, mostly due to the fact that Merlin had already been claimed by Lance as a lab partner, and also because the golden haired man was too nice to say anything to her about her inadequate attempts at science.

Thanks to his kindness Elena was always kind back, even doing most of the work in the writing portion of the class while Arthur did most of the lab work for them both.

She often gave him free drinks when he came to the bar, as thanks for his kindness.

Tonight, Arthur drank a free beer from tap, the foam clinging to his upper lips, and making Merlin sigh dreamily when he licked at it.

Leon was the first to speak, pausing in his drinking, “so,” he said cheerfully, “what do you two think of the new song?”

Merlin was about to respond politely, but Arthur cut him to it.

“’Love in the Time of Dragons?’” Arthur rolled his eyes, dipping a chip in vinegar, “what kind of name is that for a song from a rock band?!”

Lance jumped to the defense of the band, “it’s a love song,” he clarified, nose sticking up in the air, “like a modern take on a fairytale romance.”

Arthur raised a brow at him, “you realize Gwen is with my sister, right? She’s never going to go for you.”

Elyan’s cheeks darkened at that and Lance looked taken aback, opening and closing his mouth, trying to come up with a proper answer to the accusations.

Finally, he spat out, “I know she’s with Morgana! And who said it’s about her at all?!”

Gwaine laughed at him, stealing the other male’s drink, “Lance,” he said after taking a draft of the beer, “you have been mooning over her for months now!”

Elyan and Percy looked distinctly uncomfortable now, and Merlin tried to smooth things over.

“I think the song will show the fans another side to you,” he said quickly, trying to avoid an apocalypse in the band, or worse, another person quitting then returning days later.

“Thank you Merlin,” Leon said loudly over his squabbling band mates. “I think the audience will appreciate a softer outlook on us too.”

Gwaine snorted into his glass, “or we’ll just get more stalkers, like that horrid Vivian.”

Percy shuddered at that, hands clutching around his mug.

Vivian, a star struck fan of Camelot’s, was a girl who took to stalking all of the boys, breaking into their homes and once even crawling into Percy’s bed.

The police had taken custody of her, but they had heard news that her father had bailed her out after a few hours.

They hadn’t seen her since then, thankfully.

“Yeah,” Lance said, turned away from Gwaine now, and paying attention to the conversation again, “or we’ll attract the attention of someone like Sophia.”

Arthur looked around the table, then turned to his boyfriend and whispered to him, “who’s Sophia?”

Merlin positioned his body closer to talk more intimately with him, “Sophia is this girl who stalked the boy’s.” Merlin could still see her, rounded face and pretty curls making her look like a sweet doll. She had been anything but.

“She was part of a cult,” Merlin went on whispering, “she was able to lead Leon away from the group saying that her friend was hurt and that she needed help in getting her to safety. Leon followed her of course and she knocked him out.”

Arthur’s brow was furrowed, “what did she plan on doing with him?”

Merlin shrugged, “I guess use him as a blood sacrifice or make a demon baby with him. Either way, Lance and El were able to save him before that happened. They went looking for him after he was gone for nearly half an hour, and they found him in the middle of a pentagram with candles surrounding him.”

Arthur looked startled, and his grip tightened around Merlin, as though he was expecting Sophia to show up at that very moment and take the black haired lad away.

“She was arrested too,” Merlin concluded, taking a swig of his drink, “all of the Camelot members have a restraining order on her, and she was charged with assault.”

Arthur shook his head, reaching for his own glass again, “I’m seriously considering your choice of friends Merlin.”

Merlin huffed at that, “I should be the one saying that. Leon’s more your friend than mine.”

That was true, Leon and Arthur knew each other better than Merlin knew the strawberry blonde man. 

They talked about crazy women like that for a while, Gwaine regaling them with tales of the many girls he had been with in the past, and who now continued to seek vengeance on him.

After a while Arthur got up from his seat, going to fetch them a new round of drinks.

After a few minutes of the blonde being gone Gwaine nudged Merlin with his foot, looking towards the bar.

“Who,” he asked seriously, “is that with Arthur?”

Merlin turned his head to look too, surprised to find a pretty girl standing next to his boyfriend, much too closely.

Her long brown curls ran over her shoulders and brushed against Arthur’s arm as she leaned in close. Merlin couldn’t help but feel jealousy gnaw at his insides.

Arthur smiled politely at whatever she was saying, but his blue eyes darted around in search of some excuse to leave.

He was saved when Elena called out his name, motioning to him from across the bar.

Arthur said something to the girl and all but ran towards the bar maid, dodging around others before grabbing the tray from his lab partner and walking back towards their table.

Gwaine stared at him as he did so, then, noticing the look on Merlin’s face grinned. It was a nasty grin at that.

“Hey Merlin,” Gwaine said slowly as Arthur approached the table, “do you remember Nimueh?”

Percy snorted at that, drinking the few precious drops remaining from his cup, “how can he not remember her?! She only stalked him for about a year!”

Arthur set the tray down, but his eyes were narrowed viciously, “who the bloody hell is Nimueh?” His voice rang with measured anger and something else that Merlin couldn’t identify.

Percy leaned forward, all but too happy to tell the story, despite Merlin’s hand gestures not to.

“Nimueh was this girl who liked Merlin when he still managed for us,” Percy said, grabbing a fresh drink, “she didn’t really like the band, but she liked Merlin, so, she came around a lot. She talked about how they were meant for each other, and things were right between them. She followed him around a lot.”

Lance joined in, nodding, “she would try to put drugs into his drink so that she could have her way with him. She never succeeded of course, but, she still tried it.”

Arthur was looking severely angry now, and Gwaine much too pleased with himself. Merlin considered the possibility of getting new friends.

“Merlin eventually shoved her off,” Percy told, “he yelled that she was crazy and that she needed to stay away from him, or drastic measures would have to be taken.” He shrugged as he stopped to take a drink, “he only meant a court order to stay away, but it was threat enough. She left him alone after that, but we still see her around sometimes, watching, but never coming close.” The end of the story sounded like a ghost tale, and Merlin rolled his eyes.

“You guys are prats,” he told them, grabbing his jacket from where it had been stuffed behind him as a makeshift cushion, “and I hate you half the time.”

Percy shook his head at him sagely and the others made noises of protest, but Merlin ignored them in favor of grabbing his boyfriend, “let’s go.”

Arthur nodded at him and turned to hug him close as they left the bar, the rowdy sound fading behind them as they walked away from the Manticore…

“They don’t mean what they say,” Merlin told his boyfriend as they walked side by side down the nearly deserted street, “they just like to tease a lot.”

Arthur kept silent, red coat collar tucked up around his neck, his hands in his pockets.

Merlin continued, feeling awkward, “they just don’t know when to stop!”

Arthur sighed, “I’m not mad at you, or them,” he said sourly, “I just…don’t like the idea of some woman stalking you…and I had no idea.”

Merlin blinked at him, pausing mid-step, making Arthur do the same.

“Nimueh was insane,” Merlin said slowly, “I don’t know why she liked me, or if she really even did…all I know as that it’s over with and she’s gone.”

Arthur looked up at him at that, and a small smile began to tug at the corner of his mouth, “yes,” he agreed, “she is gone. And now, only one person can stalk you.” He leaned in close, their breath mingling, “me.”

Merlin laughed at that, not resisting the urge to loop his arms around his boyfriend’s neck and pull him in for a kiss.

The night was dark around them, and the wind was blowing, but Merlin couldn’t have been any warmer or happier…


End file.
